Colchester Ravens win Plate Final

Ravens beat Westcliffe in Plate Final at Southend Elite Festival

Southend Elite Festival

Being woken by a thunderstorm was perhaps not the best start to a Festival day but by the time the matches started at Southend’s Elite Festival it had brightened up and the day proved to be pleasantly sunny.

There were two pools, our pool (Colchester Ravens, Braintree, Rochford, Old Brentwoodians and Old Elthamians) seemingly stronger than the host’s pool (Southend, Woodford, Westcliffe and Brentwood). This proved to be the case as all four of the subsequent Finals were won by teams from our pool.

Our first match was against Braintree (who went on to win the Cup). Whilst we had been practising at home last week, they had been reaching the Final at the Saracen’s Land Rover Festival and it showed. We lacked sharpness and urgency, were unable to cope with their physicality at the ruck and conceded one try in each half. Final score Braintree 2 – 0 Colchester.

Second pool match was against Old Elthamians who were playing their first match of “transition” rules as Kent clubs are still playing the old U11 rules. First half tries from George F, Brin and Reubin lifted the morale that had been somewhat battered after the first match. The second half restart saw Aston catching Danny’s drop kick and running through their defence to score. Aston turned provider at the end of the half by passing to Ed who scored in the corner. Strong defence kept the opponents scoreless. Final score Colchester 5 – 0 Old Elthamians.

The third pool match against Old Brentwoodians was a tight match. Our first try by George F was cancelled out just before half time. Old B’s took the lead straight after the break and then defended ably. Ravens struggled to move the ball wide and our narrow play proved easy to defend. The equalising try came in the final play and followed a strong run to within 5 meters of the line by George W that was quickly recycled. Final score Colchester 2 – 2 Old Brentwoodians.

The final pool match against Rochford was another close match. One missed tackle allowed them to score the only try of the first half. In the second half Colchester started to pass the ball more and become increasingly urgent at the breakdowns. A tackle from George W generated a turnover that Enabled Reubin to score. The deciding try came from Danny H who, having seemingly run up a cul de sac, span out of two tackles to score in the corner. Final score Colchester 2 – 1 Rochford.

Having Won 2, Drawn 1 and Lost 1 we were second in our pool.

The Plate Final was a good advert for U11 rugby and was played in great spirits against Westcliffe. Whilst some of the refereeing decisions intrigued / bemused both sets of coaches, they did not spoil an excellent game of rugby. George W scored Colchester’s first try having run from a free kick through the centre of their defence. Aston added a second before half time. A seemingly one sided final was brought back into the balance when Westcliffe scored with the first play of the second half. Resolute defence by the whole team throughout the rest of the half finally secured the victory. Plate Final score Colchester 2 – 1 Westcliffe.

I would like to thank the boys for their efforts today on what turned out to be a long hot day. Well done Ravens.

Thanks again to all the parents for your continued support particularly to Graham and Alan for doing the early tent building shift.